Career check: why the point-of-sale is the best school

What does a career look like in an industry that constantly has to reinvent itself? Industry expert Daniel Samy El Menshawi looks back on 15 years of experience balanced between tradition and transformation.

After an apprenticeship in textile management and a degree in International Fashion Management, El Menshawi worked in sales for various apparel companies, from Strenesse to Esprit. He then ventured into self-employment with his label, Spsr.Studio. In addition to managing the streetwear-oriented menswear tailoring brand he founded, he teaches “Future Retail.” He also creates the off-pitch collections for sportswear brand Jako, collaborating with professional football teams like VfB Stuttgart and Mainz 05.

In this interview, he reflects on the various stages of his career since his studies and reveals his expectations for the future of retail.

How do you look back on the last four years, having gone freelance after a long career in sales?

I would do it again in a heartbeat. Being bold and launching your own concept, especially during a crisis or recession, feels right.

You need stamina, of course. Day and night, ups and downs—it is all part of it. You are constantly readjusting. If you remain sensitive, sense what is changing out there, and constantly adapt your concept, it is really fun.

Was the pandemic and Esprit's subsequent insolvency the turning point for you, following your work on their new denim concept?

I was at Esprit for a very short time; before that, I was at G-Star and Strenesse for many years. The company went into administration just a few months after I started, which was quite bitter. What irritated me the most during that time was the way people were treated.

In general, I noticed that the way the industry and wholesale work together is no longer effective. I believed less and less in these massive pre-order quantities and the old rhythms. Retail needs new solutions.

That is why I founded Spsr. I completely believe in on-demand production, co-creation, and genuine interaction with the customer. We develop products together with the end consumer, one-to-one. For business-to-business (B2B), we deliver in five to six weeks instead of six months. Reacting quickly and staying close to the market was the core idea.

A contemporary response to the traditional men's tailor

A personal tailor is as essential to a man as a good hairdresser. Retail has lost many customers as city centres have become interchangeable; there is too much stock, too little service, and constant sales, creating a massive oversupply. The magic is missing.

Nobody wants to drive into the city on a Saturday with two children, pay 150 euros for parking and lunch, and then fail to find a single knowledgeable advisor in the store. That is exactly where we come in; we go to the customer's office, their home, or wherever they may be.

What does it cost your customers?

We produce in Europe. A full suit starts at around 750 euros, with top-end prices reaching approximately 1,400 euros—depending on the fabric, of course. There are no additional service fees. Since we hold no stock and operate entirely on-demand, costs are only incurred when an order is placed. This makes the entire process highly efficient.

We also host trunk shows in various cities, popping up unexpectedly in cafés, museums, clubs, or in partnership with local retailers. We even work remotely using digital measurements; two photos and a few specific details are all that is required. It is quite straightforward.

You also lecture on “future retail” at Texoversum in Nagold

I teach Future Retail, as well as Menswear and Visual Merchandising. Future Retail functions like a laboratory: What still works? What does not? Which concepts actually have a future?

Where is retail heading?

I always ask my students what they would choose if they had to decide between a Rolex or a festival pass. Almost all of them choose the experience. That really says it all.

For me, retail is evolving into a showroom—an experience enhanced by digital components, a more curated product presentation, and a stronger emotional connection. Above all, the human factor is becoming more vital in the age of digitalisation. Expert advice beats everything, and customers are seeking it out more intentionally.

How is the search becoming more precise?

New profiles are being developed, which is already evident in job advertisements today. Companies are no longer looking for classic salespeople; instead, they are seeking style advisors or fashion consultants. These are the new roles we need to establish for people on the shop floor. Consequently, new remuneration models and expanded areas of responsibility are increasingly coming to the forefront for retail staff.

Retail itself is also playing more and more with new names and moving away from the term. Aimé Leon Dore, for example, now calls its stores Clubhouses. It will move more in the direction of a community hub, where the company brings the community into the store via a café or an activation. This is now also firmly anchored in customer expectations.

Almost every sportswear brand is talking about community now...

Community is not a buzzword or a weekly running club for marketing purposes. It needs real added value and encounters that do not feel staged. For example, we are planning chess mornings in a bar. Just playing chess. No sales show, no pitch. Just bringing people together. If someone comes in a suit, that is cool. If it is one of ours, even better. That is not the point, however.

You studied first in Nagold and then in Amsterdam; how do you look back on that time?

In Nagold, Germany, I studied textile management and then did a bachelor's degree in International Fashion Management at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) in Amsterdam. I was a bit of a problem student before that and was expelled from school shortly before my A-levels. When I started my apprenticeship, I rediscovered my passion and it was a turnaround for me. That was a very important time for me.

To this day, I value the contacts and close friendships that came out of it. Nagold was a really cool base for me, where I gained basic knowledge of the textile industry. Amsterdam was the creative add-on to that.

What are the biggest differences you see in your students today?

Everything is more digital, faster and more supported by artificial intelligence (AI). Presentations look more impressive and they do everything on an iPad. We had a notepad and a pen. These digital tools would probably have distracted me too much.

The feel of a product remains crucial, however – then as now. You have to touch fashion, and no AI can replace that understanding. The parties have also stayed the same, they are still wild [laughs], as has the passion for the industry.

Do students concern themselves with the state of the industry?

We also discuss it actively in class. Especially in Future Retail, we take stock and look at the global status quo, both on the industry sourcing side and in retail.

Nevertheless, the students bring a healthy naivety with them. It is also very important to me that we produce people who question concepts and think in new ways.

If you were starting your career again today, would you take the same path?

I am a great believer in gut feeling. It has always guided me. My decisions have rarely been purely rational, but mostly based on feeling, and that has served me well.

Looking back, my time at G-Star in particular was a huge eye-opener. That is when I understood that in our industry, everything ultimately comes down to a single moment: the moment when the product meets the customer – at the point-of-sale.

I realised back then that this exact moment is often neglected in the collaboration between industry and retail. That is why, even back then, no matter how big my area of responsibility was, I was on a shop floor somewhere every Saturday. My colleagues sometimes said I was “crazy”.

Why is it so important to be on site regularly?

Only there do you get a real feel for what works and what does not. You see immediately how customers react. No report can replace this direct feedback. For me, the point-of-sale is still the centre of the action – a real competitive advantage if you take it seriously.

In conclusion: what do you want from the industry?

More magic at the point-of-sale and more awareness. Especially for what we produce, in what quantities, with what materials and under what conditions. For me, it is about looking at the entire value chain more consciously – from design and production to sales.

I know that can quickly sound like a buzzword. Everyone who works in fashion, however, understands what is meant. It is about responsibility and less waste. It is also about really asking yourself why you are bringing a product to market in the first place.

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